This fast-paced moderated discussion will cover critical issues for faculty teaching, or interested in teaching, policy advocacy in their clinics. After introducing the presenters’ clinical models, the session will include a “round-robin” of prepared 1- or 2-minute tips to overcome the most challenging structural, ethical, and pedagogical issues that arise when teaching law students in the legislative and policy context. These tips and the subsequent attendee participation exercise will cover a broad range of topics, including:
Structural
● course design (including sample syllabi and bibliography);
● policy project selection (including tips on how to identify rewarding policy projects in direct services cases and beyond);
Ethical
● application of the rules of professional responsibility in the context of legislative and policy advocacy (including identifying potential conflicts of interest with the law school and university);
● application of “lobbying” rules and registration requirements in this context;
Pedagogical
● teaching legislative advocacy skills (including model in-class exercises on how to execute successful legislative meetings and how to deal successfully with the media);
● teaching general lawyering skills in the legislative and policy context (including problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and self-reflection);
● suggestions for individual substantive class topics (for example, the role of the lawyer in law reform).